Chelsea draw at Westbrom

Chelsea players produced a spirited display in a Saturday evening EPL match to salvage a point against West Bromwich Albion after a shambolic first half effort that saw the Blues trailing by three goals to nil.
The Baggies put up a brave show as they shocked Frank Lampard’s wards within 29 minutes of play, capitalising on defensive errors which Chelsea players took turn to exhibit.
A miscued header from Marcos Alonso was picked up by Westbrom’s Matheus Pereira, laying it off for marauding Callum Robinson to score the first goal.
The Blues then tried to reverse the tide but Tammy Abraham’s shot went for the skies while big summer signing Timo Werner could only hit the crossbar with his strike from range.
Experienced new defender, Thiago Silva, who was captaining the side on his Premier League debut then had a horror show by giving the ball away only for Robinson to finish off against hapless goalie, Willy Caballero.
It did not take long for the Baggies to add a third as Chelsea’s frailties at defending set pieces were brought on display again. Defenders failed to clear their lines from a corner kick and Westbrom’s Kyle Bartley had enough time to tap in.
The second stanza saw two changes in personnel for Chelsea as Lampard yanked of Alonso and hitherto industrious Mateo Kovacic for a Ceaser Azpilicueta and Callum Hudson-Odoi to add more attacking impetus for the Blues
The tactical switch slowly but surely produced results. A stinging shot from youngster Mason Mount at the edge of the opponent’s box ushered in Chelsea’s first goal of the night.
Substitute Hudson-Odoi added the second in a sweet interplay between Werner, Kai Haverts and himself. Chelsea then grabbed a late equaliser from a lucky spill by the Westbrom goalkeeper.
There was not enough time for Chelsea to clinch the winner as they mounted sustained pressure on their hosts in the last minutes of the game.
Chelsea could count themselves lucky for achieving a hard-to-come-by comeback at the Hawthorns today.
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